What Explains Inter-Party Cooperation and Conflict?

• In Event: Chaos in Order: Conflict Within and Across Political Parties

Abstract

Recent research concludes that elite interactions between political parties (and with associated groups) influence citizens’ perceptions of party positions. That is, cooperative inter-party behavior leads people to place parties closer to each other, and conflict produces the opposite effect, independently of coalition arrangements and the policy tones of parties’ election manifestos (Adams, et al 2018). While elite interactions matter to citizens, little is known about the causes of inter-party cooperation and conflict. Why are some party pairs more cooperative than others? Why does their behavior vary over time? This paper addresses these questions using Weschle’s (2018) dataset containing codings of tens of thousands of media reports on elite interactions from 13 western democracies between 2001 and 2014. The analysis considers the usual suspects – manifestoes and coalition participation – but also the electoral cycle, economic conditions, electoral systems, and reelection chances. The paper contributes to the literatures on party polarization and coalition dynamics.

Authors

• James Adams, University of California, Davis

• Simon Weschle, Syracuse University

• Christopher Wlezien, University of Texas at Austin